The Sniff Test -- lessons learned
Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:09 pm
I have had my first ick outbreak in many years, since I first started keeping fish. Normally I use no medications and just do water changes when my fish are ill. But the ick outbreak was really bad.
My worst affected fish were rainbows, and they went into a Q tank (so the lion share of the ick would drop into a bare bottom tank to be vacuued up). I treated the main and the Q with 50% strength Rid Ick, lots of water changes and vaccums and heat. I lost a lot of cool catfish, my 2 largest clown loaches, a rainbow and a 4" Giant Danio. It was a horrific experience. We are on the road to recovery, and I am breaking down the Q tank, and the rainbows went back to the main tank. While I was drip acclimating the rainbows back to their tank, the male jumped out. I was distracted, and didn't see him and by the time I found him he was dry and stiff. He had been on the carpet 10-20 minutes -- can't believe the cats didn't tell me! I put him in a breeder in the tank and he floated upside down with no signs of life. His eyes were clear and he didn't smell, so I thought he could be revived. Clear eyes and the sniff test are my ways of figuring out if a fish is dead. I held him in my hand face up into the flow of the filter. I held him there for 1/2 hour, my arm in the water, me standing next to the tank. No signs of life. I continued to hold him in my fist, face in the filter flow, and ten minutes later a fin twitched. I checked. I thought it might have been the water. Took a look and pectoral fin feebly waved in the water. I continued to hold him in the filter for ten more minutes. I put him in the breeder and he floated upside down. I held him another 10 minutes, and put him in the breeder propped up with plants, and he floated right side up. 1/2 an hour later, he was moving. He was bumping the breeder, so I let him out. He started to hang out with the other rainbows, stayed near the top, ate a little dinner. This morning he is swimming normally. I won't say he has survived, unless he is with me for two weeks, but it looks good. Certainly better than when I found him on the carpet.
I learned the sniff test when I had my water go bad a couple years ago. I had two lifeless B striatas. I took them and put them in a Q tank with high oxygen and clean water. Their bodies floated to the bottom. But they didn't smell and their eyes were clear. The next morning they were swimming normally. I still have them.
I had a yoyo jump the tank a few years ago, and I missed it. I found out when I stepped on her. Augh! I put her back in the tank, held her under the flow, and she is still with me, two or three years later.
When I first brought banjos home I thought they died in the bag. I could pick them up out of the water and not even a twitch. Floated sideways, upside down in the water, . . . and then scooted away.
My worst affected fish were rainbows, and they went into a Q tank (so the lion share of the ick would drop into a bare bottom tank to be vacuued up). I treated the main and the Q with 50% strength Rid Ick, lots of water changes and vaccums and heat. I lost a lot of cool catfish, my 2 largest clown loaches, a rainbow and a 4" Giant Danio. It was a horrific experience. We are on the road to recovery, and I am breaking down the Q tank, and the rainbows went back to the main tank. While I was drip acclimating the rainbows back to their tank, the male jumped out. I was distracted, and didn't see him and by the time I found him he was dry and stiff. He had been on the carpet 10-20 minutes -- can't believe the cats didn't tell me! I put him in a breeder in the tank and he floated upside down with no signs of life. His eyes were clear and he didn't smell, so I thought he could be revived. Clear eyes and the sniff test are my ways of figuring out if a fish is dead. I held him in my hand face up into the flow of the filter. I held him there for 1/2 hour, my arm in the water, me standing next to the tank. No signs of life. I continued to hold him in my fist, face in the filter flow, and ten minutes later a fin twitched. I checked. I thought it might have been the water. Took a look and pectoral fin feebly waved in the water. I continued to hold him in the filter for ten more minutes. I put him in the breeder and he floated upside down. I held him another 10 minutes, and put him in the breeder propped up with plants, and he floated right side up. 1/2 an hour later, he was moving. He was bumping the breeder, so I let him out. He started to hang out with the other rainbows, stayed near the top, ate a little dinner. This morning he is swimming normally. I won't say he has survived, unless he is with me for two weeks, but it looks good. Certainly better than when I found him on the carpet.
I learned the sniff test when I had my water go bad a couple years ago. I had two lifeless B striatas. I took them and put them in a Q tank with high oxygen and clean water. Their bodies floated to the bottom. But they didn't smell and their eyes were clear. The next morning they were swimming normally. I still have them.
I had a yoyo jump the tank a few years ago, and I missed it. I found out when I stepped on her. Augh! I put her back in the tank, held her under the flow, and she is still with me, two or three years later.
When I first brought banjos home I thought they died in the bag. I could pick them up out of the water and not even a twitch. Floated sideways, upside down in the water, . . . and then scooted away.
But things are better. Thank goodness for Q tanks and cycled filters. I have extra filters on every tank, so I can just pop them on a tank, and I am ready to have a Q.
